Anyone looking to maintain their softball fix need look no further than AUX Softball, a condensed, three-series season that starts June 13.

On the heels of the Women’s College World Series, the new Athletes Unlimited softball tournament features some of the biggest names in softball. A total of 42 players have signed on for the season, including 2021 Athletes Unlimited champion Aleshia Ocasio.

What is it?

AUX is a new, two-week competition taking place June 13-26 in San Diego, Calif.

How does the points system work?

The rankings work the same way as in regular Athletes Unlimited seasons. Players will accumulate points for offensive and defensive plays as well as team wins. The players at the top of the leaderboard after each three-team, six-game series will then draft new teams. The leader at the end of the three series will be crowned champion.

Who is playing?

The most notable name on the roster, Aleshia Ocasio made a splash in her second AU season, winning the title with 2,096 points – nearly 400 more than the next closest player – and improving on her 11th-place finish from the year before.

The pitcher racked up 784 points on 196 total outs and allowed only 18 runs in a league-high 13 games pitched. Across 66 innings, Ocasio recorded 55 strikeouts and four complete games en route to a 2.32 ERA. With eight MVP honors on the season, she finished just one behind the record set by 2020 champion Cat Osterman.

Amanda Chidester, the runner-up in 2021, and Carrie Eberle, who placed fourth, are also heading to San Diego for AUX, and will serve as team captains for the first series alongside Ocasio.

In her second AU season, Chidester increased her points total from 1,030 (good for 32nd place in 2021) to 1,714. Eberle was named 2021 Rookie of the Year, thriving at the pro level after a successful college career at Oklahoma State.

Of the 13 college athletes drafted by Athletes Unlimited in early May, just three will participate in AUX: Maggie Balint, Georgina Corrick and Danielle Gibson.

Corrick, a pitcher out of South Florida, led the Bulls to the first round of the NCAA tournament this year and was named a finalist for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year award, won by Oklahoma slugger Jocelyn Alo. With a 28-5 record this season, Corrick had the most wins of any pitcher in the NCAA. She also set the program record — and led the country — with 20 shutouts while managing an impressive 0.53 ERA.

Balint, fresh off of her senior season at San Diego State, is also poised to be a threat in the circle. She began her freshman year at Oregon, where she was named to the Pac-12 all-freshman team and Pac-12 first team and was a finalist for NFCA National Freshman of the Year and USA Softball Player of the Year awards. This past season was Balint’s best with the Aztecs. In 41 appearances and 185 innings pitched, she went 18-6 with a 2.12 ERA.

Gibson, one of four finalists for the 2022 Honda Sport Award for softball, brings experience in the infield and at the plate. At Arkansas this season, she drove in 70 runs while posting a .445 batting average. The first-team NFCA All-American led the Razorbacks to the Super Regionals of the NCAA softball tournament, where they lost to eventual WCWS runner-up Texas.

When is it, and how do I watch?

As part of a recent broadcasting deal with ESPN, all AUX games will be aired on ESPN’s family of networks.

Series 1

Monday, June 13

• Game 1 @ 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU
• Game 2 @ 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Tuesday, June 14

• Game 3 @ 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU
• Game 4 @ 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Wednesday, June 15

• Game 5 @ 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• Game 6 @ 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Series 2

Saturday, June 18

• Game 7 @ 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU
• Game 8 @ 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Sunday, June 19

• Game 9 @ 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU
• Game 10 @ 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Monday, June 20

• Game 11 @ 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• Game 12 @ 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Series 3

• Thursday, June 23
  • Game 13 @ 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU
  • Game 14 @ 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU
•  Friday, June 24
  • Game 15 @ 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU
  • Game 16 @ 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU
•  Saturday, June 25
  • Game 17 @ 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU
  • Game 18 @ 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports.

Thursday night's NCAA basketball action spotlights a tense SEC rematch, as No. 2 South Carolina hosts No. 4 Texas in conference play following the pair's nonconference Players Era Championship matchup in November.

The Longhorns just edged the Gamecocks 66-64 in the Las Vegas competition's title game, but the tide has since shifted, with South Carolina now riding a 10-game winning streak into Thursday's matchup while No. 6 LSU served Texas a season-first loss last Sunday.

"I'm really disappointed in the league for putting us in that position, but we play whoever is in front of us," Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer said of his team's grueling road trip. "It's one monster after another."

The pair's sole 2025/26 conference matchup could end up determining the SEC basketball regular-season title — South Carolina and Texas split their two 2024/25 SEC clashes to tie for last season's honor before the Gamecocks ousted the Longhorns from both the conference tournament and the Final Four.

While injuries have impacted both sides, South Carolina anticipates a roster boost from 6-foot-7 French international Alicia Tournebize, who recently joined the Gamecocks after playing pro ball in Europe.

"She looked good," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of her team's midseason addition. "She'll play, she'll definitely play."

How to watch Texas vs. South Carolina on Thursday

The No. 4 Longhorns will tip off against the No. 2 Gamecocks in Columbia at 7 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage airing on ESPN2.

The NWSL Players Association is speaking out, filing a grievance against the league's new "High Impact Player" rule on Monday after claiming that the mechanism violates both the CBA and US labor laws.

"Player compensation is a mandatory subject of bargaining," the union said in its Wednesday statement. "The League has no authority to unilaterally create a new pay structure that bypasses negotiated rules."

The union requested "immediate rescission of the HIP Rule, an order requiring the League to bargain in good faith over any proposed Player compensation rules prior to implementation, and to make-whole relief for any Players impacted by the League's unilateral actions."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

With the future of stars like Trinity Rodman hanging in the balance, the "High Impact Player" rule allows clubs to exceed the salary cap by up to $1 million so long as players qualify under specific criteria — measures that a mere 27 current NWSL athletes currently meet.

The NWSLPA instead suggested simply raising the overall salary cap by $1 million, with the NWSL going on to institute the rule despite union objections.

"We want to make sure everybody has a level playing field," NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke told The Athletic in December. "If the league can come in here and put their thumb on the scale…they can put their thumb on the scale of any player's contract negotiation."

With free agency heating up, players making moves, and the 2026 NWSL preseason kicking off, the pressure is mounting for both sides to figure out a lasting fix.

USWNT star Sam Coffey has sealed the deal, with WSL side Manchester City announcing on Wednesday that they've signed the 27-year-old through 2029.

Manchester City reportedly paid $875,000 in transfer fees for the midfielder, after Coffey led the Portland Thorns to one NWSL title in her four years with the NWSL club.

"Sam's reputation as one of the world's best speaks for itself," said Man City director of football Therese Sjögran in the WSL club's announcement. "We're delighted she's chosen to come here ahead of other potential suitors."

"Sam is playing at the top of her game, and I think her decision to come here shows the incredible progress we've made as a Club and the ambitions we have moving forward," added Sjögran.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

City's ambitions are rising alongside their place on the WSL table, where the Citizens currently sit six points clear atop the standings thanks to global stars like Bunny Shaw and Vivianne Miedema.

Coffey's move, however, continues to tip the USWNT's scales away from the NWSL, with over half of the starting XI from the 2024 Olympic gold-medal match now playing club football in Europe — at least for now.

"For as long as I've kicked a ball, I've always dreamed of playing professional soccer in Europe," Coffey said in an emotional letter to Portland on social media. "I would never forgive myself if I didn't go try."

How to watch Manchester City this weekend

Though the date of Coffey's European debut is still unknown, Manchester City will next take the pitch against third-flight club Bournemouth in the fourth round of the 2025/26 FA Women's Cup at 8 AM ET on Sunday before facing a top-tier battle against WSL champion Chelsea in the League Cup semifinals next Wednesday.

WSL action for the Citizens will then resume on Sunday, January 25th, when Man City takes on the London City Lionesses at 6:55 AM ET on ESPN+.

The upcoming Netflix feature film about the 1999 USWNT World Cup team has landed a lead, with Deadline confirming on Wednesday that the streaming giant is tapping actor Emily Bader to play star forward Mia Hamm in The 99'ers.

The 29-year-old most recently starred in People We Meet on Vacation, which made its debut at No. 1 on Netflix last week.

Bader previously enjoyed a breakout turn in the Prime historical drama My Lady Jane, which dropped in June 2024.

Calling her role in The 99'ers "a dream come true," Bader celebrated her Netflix casting in her Instagram Stories on Wednesday.

"Growing up playing soccer and being so inspired by @miahamm," she wrote.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Netflix first acquired the rights to The Girls of Summer: The US Women's Soccer Team and How It Changed the World — a 2000 book by Jeré Longman — back in 2020, with the project officially going into development in May 2025.

Known for her directorial prowess on Sirens on Netflix as well as her Emmy and Director's Guild Award-winning work on HBO's Watchmen, Nicole Kassell will direct The 99'ers.

Kassell will work off a script penned by Katie Lovejoy (Love at First Sight, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before 3), Dana Stevens (The Woman King, Fatherhood), and Peter Hedges (Ben Is Back).

Helmed by Liza Chasin from 3Dot Productions, The 99'ers boasts a production team that includes Hayley Stool, Ross Greenburg, Marla Messing, Jill Mazursky, and Krista Smith.

While no timeline for production or distribution are available, Netflix will likely aim to use the film to bolster its coverage of the the upcoming World Cups in light of the streamer recently snagging the exclusive US broadcast rights to both the 2027 and 2031 tournaments.